WORCESTELR'S 



OLD COMMON 



Worcester's 
Old Common 

Remarks made at the annual banquet 
of the Worcester "Board of Grade, 
jipril 19. 1901, by M M M M & 

JMATHANIEL PAINE, ji. M- 



Privately Printed 

Worcester 

1901 



Press of r s Blanchard & Cc 

WORCESTER, 









N.I. 
of twenty-live co])iL-s printed. 



Worcester's Old Comnidii, with Sdiiic of 
Its Neitditors ani Iiicijents. 



RDM the "Records of the 
]'ro])rietors" it appears that 
111 May, 1667, a Committee 
w as appointed by the General 
Court to view the "Country 
near the Quinsigamond 
I'linds." with the intention of 
estabhshing a settlement 
there, and a few small houses 
were erected soon after. In 
June, i66t). the Committee passed the 
following vote : "Ordered : 

"Agreed. That their bee a place 
rreserued in comon nearre the centerr of 
the towne conuenient forr that purrpose 
al)out twenty accres forr a trayning place 
& to set a scoolc house vpon as nearre as 
may be wherrc the meeting house shalbe 
placed." 



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A settlement, liii\ve\'er, was not ct¥ect- 
ed till i'>73, Init, (nving to trouble with 
the Indians, it was soon abandoned, and 
was not tinallv established till 1713. 

The twenty acres set apart for the 
Common had been reduced by sale, so 
that in 173J, when a survey was made liv 
order of the Proprietors, only alioul 
eleven or twelve acres remained, b^om 
this had been set off to Capt. Moses Rice 
a lot of aliout half an acre, frontino; on 
the iNTain street, now covered by the 
Walker lluilding. Cajit. Rice came to 
W^Drcester from Sudbury and became an 
influential citizen, and on the lot set ofif 
til him btiilt the first tavern in Worcester, 
aijout i/iij or 1720, and a iniblic house 
was kept on that spot for the next twentv 
years. I'apt. Ivice afterwards removed 
to Rutland, Mass., where he was killed 
by the Indians in 1755. 

The Common then extended from 
Park street on the south to Alechanic 
street on the north, and east to Salem 
sfjuare and Church street, with the excep- 
tion cif the half-acre owned by Capt. 
Rice. 

Soon after the establishment of Wor- 
cester county, in 173 1, there came to 
Worcester a man who was to become an 
im])ortant factor in the business and nui- 
nicip.'d life of the town. This was fobn 



Chandler of \Voodstock'^ who later held 
many important offices. He represented 
Worcester in the General Court in 1732, 
'735- 1738. 1739. 175^ and 1753. He 
was also a selectman, town treasurer and 
the first clerk of the courts for Worcester 
comity. In 1742 the Rice tavern lot on 
the Common was bought by Mr. Chand- 
ler, who had come into possession of land 
adjoining. He died in 1762, his death 
being noticed in the Boston News Letter 
of Aug-. 12 of that year. His remains 
were placed in the Chandler tomb on the 
Common, which, with the Di.x tomb, w-as 
a little to the south of the Soldiers 
Monument. I well remember these 
tombs, which were not removed till after 
the brick school house on the east end 
of the Conunon was built. 

Mr. Chandler's son, Col. John Chanil- 
ler, who came to Worcester a boy of 
about eleven years of age, succeeded to 
some of the offices held by his father. 
He was town treasurer 1753- 1760, town 
clerk 1764-1768, county treasurer 1762- 
1775, sheriiT of Worcester county 1751- 
1762, and judge of probate from 1762 to 

i774-_ 

.\ fine mansion had been erected, with 

barns and other buildings, and Col. 

*'rin 1749a partof Worcester county. Though 
the town in that year changed her allegiance to 
Connecticut, the respective states long wrangled 
over the matter. 



A ROUGH DIACtRAM OF THE COMMON AND ADJACENT STREETS, 

'VAT OPtCESTER, 3VC-A_SS. 

1839-43. 







[Till- U.i-M- Uuri- Imusi- slmwij iin iliii-niin. v1](jiiIiI Ikim- Ii. m rihii-MMiUil iirarcr Jliin st 
iiliiuil cipiio-silc llii- i'iilr;incc' (o .ludv'i' I':iini'\ VMrd.l '' 



Chancilcr resided there until jusl Itefore 
the be.efiniiino- of the War of the Revoki- 
tion, at wiiich time he went to Englantl 
with other loyalists, and died there in the 
year 1800. He was known in England 
as the "Honest Refugee." on account of 
tlie justness of liis claims for losses sus- 
tained by his espousal of the royalist 
cause, in comparison witli the extrava- 
gant claims of others. After lie left the 
country his name was placed in the list 
of absentees, and his property confis- 
cated ; the mansion house and land with 
some other property were assigned to 
Airs. Chandler as her dower, she remain- 
ing in the countr}-. 

Col. Chandler was one of the largest 
contributors to the building of the Old 
South meeting house, and was given the 
first choice of a pew. He chose a wall 
pew on the minister's right hand. The 
one on the left was taken by one Lieut. 
Jacob Hemenway, who chose it because 
there was a door opening to a place undei 
the ]nilpit. where he kept a barrel of cidei 
tor use at Sunday noonings. John 
Adams (afterwards President of the 
L'nited States), who taught school in 
Worcester in 1757, often speaks of Col. 
Chandler in his diary, says he saw a 
great deal of him, and once went on a 
special service for him to the ( Invernor 
of Rhode Island. 




O 



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■n 



'A 



The description of Col. Chaiuller's 
property, once a part of the Common, as 
lately taken from the English records, 
was as follows : "Thirty rods north 
easterly from the meeting house ahout 
one acre. Bounded north westerly on 
the Cotmty road (Alain street), south 
easterly on the ministerial land, south 
westerly on the town common, or road 
leading from said meeting house to Graf- 
ton (Front street). Together with one 
large upright dwelling house, two barns, 
a cow barn, a large store and a tenement 
formerly used as an office, also other 
Ijuildings." 

After Mrs. Chandler's death, in 17S3, 
some of her children continued to reside 
in the house, proliably till about 1790. 
The i)r()])erty in 17S') was formally con- 
veyed to the heirs-at-law of Col. Chand- 
ler, I)y a special act of the General Comt, 
and the\ , in 1789, conveyed it to Samuel 
Chandler, one of tiie sons. In 1803 he 
sold it to ("apt. Ephraim Mower, who 
had occunii'd the house as a tavern since 
1 79 1. In 1818 the estate was purchased 
by William Ho\'ey'-\ who took down the 
old house and erected a brick one in its 
place. This was known as the "Worces- 
ter hotel," and later as the United States 



*Mr. Hovey was at one time a manufacturer 
of hav-cutters on Summer .street. 



hotel, renKjved in 1855 to make room for 
Clark's block*. Among the landlords of 
the United States hotel were James 
Worthington, the late William C. Clark 
and Charles Sibley, the present crier of 
tlie court. 

In 1757 Col. Chandler marched from 
the Com!i]on to the relief of Fort William 
Henry. In (Jctober, 1760, so savs the 
lioston News Letter, the mansion of Col. 
Chandler at Worcester was brilliantly 
illuminated on account of the success of 
ilis Majesty's arms by the taking of 
Montreal by Lord Amherst. 

It was from the Chandler house, in 
178(1, that the Rev. Aaron liancroft, just 
called to settle over the Second parish 
in Worcester, was married to Lucretia 
Chandler, daughter of Col. Chandler, 
and for a while occupied the house. It 
was in the fall or winter of 1786, at 
the time of the famous Shays rebellinn, 
when the leader of the insurgents de- 
manded that some of his men should be 
admitted to the Chaniller house, that Dr. 
ISancroft refused to admit them, saying 
they could not come in except over his 
dead body. 

Another of the Chandler family, who 
occupied a part of the original Common, 
having a store near the corner of Alain 
and Front streets, was Clark Chandler, 

*The old structure was removed t(i Mechanic 
street, and taken down to make wav for the 
Crompton block, built in 1S69. 



the loyalist tnwn clerk, from ijhH to 
1775, who, ill 1774, entered upon the 
town records the famous protest of the 
loyalists against the resolutions adopted 
by the town in AJay of that year regard- 
ing the ttse and importation of tea. The 
store occupied by Mr. Chandler was 
afterwards known as the old compound 
and was moved to I'leasant street, where 
the Rogers block now is. 

The acceptance of the protest was re- 
fused bv tile town, but Chandler, the 
town clerk, himself among the signers of 
the protest, as were several of his rela- 
tives and friends, copied it on the records 
and also sent a copy to Boston for publi- 
cation. 

As soon as the Whigs discovered thai 
this protest had been entered upon the 
town records, they were very excited ami 
indignant with the clerk for having, as 
tlK-\' claimed, exceeded his powers, and 
insulted the town by his procedure. A 
petition was at once presented to the 
selectmen, asking them to call a sjiecial 
meeting to take action upon the unwar- 
rantable proceeding of the clerk. 

.\t a meeting held the 24th of ,\ugust, 
1774, resolutions, prepared by a commit- 
tee previously appointed, were adojited, 
denouncing the protest of the Tories in 
the strongest terms ; and as it appeared 
"that the same is recorded in the town 




DKFACK!) l'A(;i'; OF Ti)\VN RECORDS. 



book, notwithstanding the many asper- 
sions against the people of this town, 
and without tlie liberty or knowledge of 
the town" ; therefore it was 

"\'oted that the town clerk do, in the 
presence of the town, obliterate, erase, 
or otherwise deface the said recorded 
protest, and the names thereto subscribed, 
so that it may become utterly illegible 
and unintelligible." 

1 he clerk, thereupon, in ojjcn meeting, 
with his pen defaced the pages upon 
which the obnoxious record was made; 
but this not proving satisfactory to the 
patriotic voters then assembled, he was 
made to dip his fingers into the ink and 
draw them across the records, so effectu- 
allv accomplishing the object that the 
words have indeed become utterly illegi- 
l)Ie, as may be seen by an inspection of 
the volume in the hands of the city clerk. 
A vote was also passed by the town 
reprimanding and admonishing Mr. 
ChaniUer for the course he had taken. 
This inuch about that part of the Com- 
mon now covered by substantial build- 
ings and entirely given up to the demands 
of business. 

Encroachments ui)on the Common, as 
originaliv laid out. have been made from 
time to time, so that it is ncnv reduced to 
about seven acres. The gun house and 
hearse house wee in the center of the 
Common for many years*. 



*They stood a little to the west of the pres 
ent location of the Col. Timothy Bigelow mon- 
ument. 



P'ifty or sixt_\- _\-ears ago there were two 
traveled roads across the Common — one 
from the northwest to the southeast cor- 
ner, the other from the southwest corner, 
at the present junction of Main and Park 
streets, to the northeast corner, near the 
house of Capt. Daniel Goulding'. which 
was in 1829 a tavern, kept by Nathaniel 
Eaton, and stood near the jjresent loca- 
tion of Houghton's block. 

Although nnich reduced in size, the 
Common continued to be a gathering 
place for the people, and events of his- 
toric interest often occurred within its 
limits, of which a few will be briefly 
alluded t... 

In August, 1774, when the country was 
excited and indignant over the arbitrary 
acts of the i'.rilish g(i\ernment, a large 
uumlx-r of people of Worcester and the 
adj(.iining towns assembled on the Com- 
mi)U, chose a committee to wait upon 
Timothy Paine, clerk of the courts and 
chairnian of the selectmen, wdio had 
lately been appointed one of the man- 
damuscouncillors and demanded that he 
resign his office and ])romise that he 
\\i>uld n.cver act as councillor. 

'Idle committee called upon him at his 
house, on the west side of Lincoln street, 
a few rods fmm Lincoln square (the 
house is still standing) and insisted that 



he should appear before the jjeoplc 
assenihlefl on the coninion and there read 
his resignation. This he did, and was 
afterwards allowed to return to his home, 
after being treated with great indignit\'. 
It was in the Timothy Paine house that 
John Adams (afterwards President of 
the United States) used to visit, and to 
which he often alludes in his diary. 

The people of the town became greatly 
excited upon public affairs, and set about 
preparing for a struggle which, they felt, 
would soon be forced upon them ; and 
the\' foresaw that, so arliitrary and intol- 
erant had become the requirements of the 
home government, that the result was 
likeh- to be a separation from ( Ireat 
IJritain. 

That they might be better iirepared for 
the impending conflict, the ])atriotic citi- 
zens of Worcester organized a company 
of minute men, who drilled on the Com- 
mon or in the streets, half a day of each 
week, for which they were allowed by the 
town compensation of one shilling ])er 
man for each half day of service. 

On the 19th of April one hun- 
dred and twenty-six years ago (1775). 
the news of the attack on Lexington and 
the fi.ght at Concord was brought to 
Worcester by a special messenger. He 
rode through the Main street to the Com- 
mon, calling upon our citizens to take 



up anus in defcncu of their country. In 
response the minute men promptly as- 
sembled there. 

Caj)!. Timothy LSigelow took command 
ami after a fervent prayer by Rev. Thad- 
deus Maccarty, minister of the Old South 
church, amid the ringings of l)ells and 
firing of cann(3n, the brave little Viand of 
patriotic citizens were soon on their way 
to lend their aid to their fellow country- 
men of Lexington and Conciird. The 
same day another company, under com- 
mand of Capt. Benjamin l^lagg, fol- 
lowed, S(i that over one hundred men 
marched from Worcester Common that 
19th of April, 1775 

Capt. Bigelow remaine<l in active ser- 
vice (luring the war as colonel of the 
i\rassachusetts 15th regiment, which ren- 
ders 1 most efficient ser\-ice, only to be 
surpassed by the famous 15th regiment 
of the War of the Rebellion. 

Eighty-six years later, the Tyth of 
April, 1861, the anniversary of Col. Bige- 
Iciw's departure for the war, a suitable 
niniuinient to his memory was dedicated 
with appropriate ceremonies, having been 
erected bv Col. Timothy Bigelow Law- 
rence of Boston. 

The fact that Revolutionary soldiers 
were buried im the old Common has 
latel'i' been recognized, ami a suitable 



iiifiiiorial ti3 their meniory lias been put 
up !)}• the city council, prompted thereto 
by the city's patriotic societies. 

Another episode of great historical in- 
terest which took place within the limits 
of the present Common was the reading 
of the Declaration of Independence from 
the porch of the Old South church. 

The Declaration of Independence was 
passed by Congress on the evening of 
July 4, 1776. and signed on that clay by 
President John Hancock and the secre- 
tary, Charles Thompson, but was not 
signed, in its completed form, by the 
members, til! the second day of August 
following. Iiumediately after its pas- 
sage, it was 

"Resolved that copies of the Declara- 
tion be sent to the several assemblies, 
conventions, and Committees of Councils 
of Safety, and to the several commanding 
officers of the Continental troops, and 
that it be proclaimed in each of the 
Cmted States and at the Head of the 
Army." 

As soon, therefore, as copies could be 
printed, it was sent by couriers to the 
different States. Having been first pub- 
licly read at Philadelphia the 8th of 
July, it was received in New York, at 
Washington's headquarters, on the 9th, 
and in the evening it was read at the 
headquarters of each brigade. 



By some means, liowever, rumors of 
the passage of the act had reached Wor- 
cester in advance of the messenger with 
the printed copy, for in the "Massachu- 
setts Spy" of July loth was the following 
announcement : — 

"It is reported that the Honorable 
Continental Congress have declared the 
American Colonies independent of the 
Monster of imperious domination and 
cruelty — Gerat Britain ! Which we hope 
is true." 

The confirmation of this runiur was 
received in Worcester on Saturday, the 
13th, or Sunday, the 14th of July, and 
was read publicly for the first time in 
New England by Isaiah Thomas, the 
publisher of the Massachusetts Spy, 
from the roof of the west porch of the 
Olil South meeting house, and also on 
Sunday, after service, in the house itself*. 

Mr. Thomas, with true journalistic 
enterprise, intercepted the messenger of 
Congress on his way through the town, 
and secured a copy of the important doc- 
ument, and it was printcil in the "Sp}'" 
of July 17, for the first time in any news- 
paper in Massachusetts. The Declara- 
tion was read in Lloston on the i8th of 



"*The old porch was removed many years be- 
fore the building itself was taken dovrn, and 
for sev-eral years served as part of a house on 
Grafton street. 



July, from the balcony of the State 
House, by Col. Thomas Crafts, to an im- 
mense concourse, including' not only the 
loyal people, but many of the British 
officers and men who were held as pris- 
oners in Boston. Four da\s later, the 
first public celebration of its adoption 
took place in Worcester, and is thus re- 
[lorted in the "Spy" of the 24th: 

"(Jn Monday last a number of patriotic 
gentlemen of this town, animated with a 
love of their country, and to show their 
approbation of the measures lately taken 
by the Grand Council of America, 
assembled on the Green, near the liberty 
pole, where, after having displayed the 
colors of the 13 Confederate Colonies 
of America, the bells were set aringing 
and the drums a beating, after which, the 
Declaration of Independence of the 
United States was reacl to a large and re- 
spectable body (among whom were the 
selectmen and committee of correspond- 
ence), assembled on the occasion, who 
testified their approbation by repeated 
huzzas, firing of musketry and cannon, 
bonfires and other demonstrations of joy; 
When the arms of that tyrant in Britain, 
George the III, of execrable memor\-, 
which in former times decorated, but of 
late ilisgraced the court house in this 
town, were committed to the flames and 
consumed to ashes ; after which, a select 
company of the sons of freedom, re])aire(l 
to the tavern, lately known by the sign 
of the King's .Vrms, which odious signa- 



ture of duspulism was taken down by 
oriiei" of the people, which was cheerfully 
complied with by the innkeeper. Toasts 
were ottered upon this occasion, among 
which were the following : — 

"Prosperity and perpetuity to the 
United States of i\nierica. The Presi- 
dent of the Grand Council of America. 
The Grand Council of America. His ex- 
cellency, (ieorge Washington. The Pat- 
riots of America. Every Friend of 
America. George rejected and liberty 
protected. Sore eyes to all the Tories 
and a chestnut biuT for an eyestone. 
Perpetual itching witliout the benefit of 
scratching to the enemies of America. 
Speedy redemption to all the officers and 
soldiers who are now jjrisoners <if war 
among our enemies. The Selectmen and 
Committees of Correspondence for the 
Town of Worcester. May the enemies 
of America be laid at her feet. May the 
freedom and independency of America 
endure, till the sun grows dim with age. 
and this earth retm-ns to chaos." 

The report says : — 

"The greatest of decency and good or- 
iler was observed, and at a suitable time 
each man returned to jiis respective 
home." 

There arc other facts of interest con- 
nected with the Common during the 
Revohitionar\- period which might bo 
mentioned, but the time albitted will 
not periuit. 

More than J^ \ears ago an eminent 



citizen oi Alassachusetts and a resident 
of Worcester, the Hon. John Davis, in 
an address at the dedication of the Town 
Hall, in I<S25, referred to tlic patriotic 
spirit and hold action of the citizens of 
Worcester before the Declaration of In- 
dependence, an<l 1 think 1 can_ not do 
better in closing than to quote from his 
remarks on that occasion. 

He said : — 

"We have jtist heard mnch jnst praise 
bestowed upon the bold and overpower- 
intr elo(|uence of James Otis and ratrick 
Henrv. but vehement and daring as they 
were," thev could not have uttered their 
sentiments in a more decisive tone than 
do the humble records of Worcester those 
of its citizens. They could not have re- 
iielled aggression in a more resolute man- 
ner, nor more warily shunned the snares 
that were set for an unsuspecting people. 
•| Ik- iiihahitanis could n.it be brought in 
anv manner, direct or indirect, to ae- 
ciu'iesce in the usurpations of the crown. 
They would not permit their representa- 
tives to he sworn bv an officer not ap- 
pointed according to the provisions of the 
Provincial Charter, nor to sit where the 
deliberations of the Legislature would 
be overawed bv an armed force. 1 heir 
rcsnhitinn was to vield no right, to sub- 
mit to no infraction; and if thev could 
not enjov the privileges secured by the 
charter, to establish an independent gov- 
ernment, and commit the issue to a ju.st 
God. ;f .-m appeal to arms should ensue. 



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LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



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